Survey Finds Large Racial Differences in Student Loan Debt
A new poll conducted by the Gallup Organization shows racial differences in the level of student loan debt. According to the survey, only 22 percent of Black students who graduated from college in the 2000-to-2014 period did so without any student loan debt. Some 39 percent of White students who graduated from college in that period had no student loan debt.
Half of all Black students who earned their degree in the period had student loan debt of more than $25,000. For Whites, 34 percent of the college graduates owed more than $25,000 in loan debt.
In comparing the current data to past Gallup surveys, we find that the percentage of Black students who graduated with student loan debt has risen sharply. In the 1970s, 48 percent of Black students who earned a college degree graduated with student loan debt. During the 1980s, the percentage rose to 63 percent and in the 1990s it reached 67 percent. Since then the percentage of Black students who graduate from college with debt has grown to 78 percent.
The report, “Black College Grads More Likely to Graduate With Debt,” may be viewed here.
